In Another Life
by BrunetteAuthorette99
Summary: What if when Leader had gone out to save Matty and Kira before the wall went up around Village, they all returned? Would it have changed anything or was Matty's death unavoidable? An alternative ending to "Messenger."
1. Decisions

**[A/N] A little background: this particular piece is my (inadvertent) first fanfic, and I wrote it a few years ago for a final English assignment on the book ****Messen****g****er**** by Lois Lowry. The assignment in question was to write an alternative ending to the book, and once all was said and done, it earned me one of my highest "essay" grades in that class.**

**Even though I wrote it so long ago, I still think it holds up - which is great, considering it's probably my favorite piece from English that year. It's here in its original form, but with a few corrections for grammar and wording. As a reference point, I believe it picks up from the end of Chapter 15.**

**[DISCLAIMER] ****Messen****g****er**** and all of its characters and ideas belong to Lois Lowry. I own nothing.**

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_**PART I - Decisions**_

Leader sunk down into his chair, indecision and anxiety clutching at him. What could he do to help Matty and Kira and Frolic? Forest would destroy them if something was not done – but what exactly _could _be done?

After thinking for a few minutes, he had made up his mind.

* * *

Early next morning, Leader walked out of his house and started towards the edge of Village, a satchel full of supplies on his back and a hastily scribbled note in his hand. His steps were rapid and determined; he reached the spot quicker than he had expected.

All of a sudden, he stopped. He had glimpsed a small, curly-haired form by the partially finished wall, slumped over in sleep. Moving towards the unknown person, Leader shook the figure's shoulder.

The person woke up almost immediately, blinking sleep from her eyes. Then she looked up. "Leader? What are_ you_ doing here?"

"I might as well ask you the same question, Jean," Leader commented as he helped the girl up.

Jean sighed, running a hand through her curly hair. "I was watching for Matty and Kira and Frolic. I know that there's nine days left, but I'm still worried about them."

Anxiety shot through him again. "They haven't come?"

"No." Jean's normally pretty face somehow managed to be worried and downcast at the same time.

"Here." Leader pressed the piece of paper into her hand, closing her fingers around it. "Take this note to Seer for me."

Matty's friend nodded, clutching the paper even tighter. In a few seconds, she was gone; on her way to Seer's house.

Leader looked after her for a moment. Turning around, he stepped outside the wall and into the foreboding darkness of Forest.

* * *

Seer was inside his house, frying some eggs for his breakfast and humming to himself when Jean burst through the door. "Seer!"

Pausing his meandering tune, the blind man turned. "Ah, Jean. What brings you here?"

The girl opened the piece of paper in her fist, smoothing out the cracks as best she could. "Leader gave me a note. It's for you."

Seer sat down at the kitchen table. "Read it to me, please."

Jean cleared her throat and started to read:

_Seer,_

_Yesterday, there was something that I did not tell you. Forest is preparing to destroy Matty, Frolic, and Kira. _

_I've gone to find them before the three weeks is up. Don't come after me._

_Leader_

Seer was horrified. "When did he give you this?"

Jean gulped. "Last night, I went out by the gate to watch for Matty and Kira and his puppy…I think I must have fallen asleep, because Leader woke me up…he gave me this note…" Her voice trailed off, stuttering. "Do y-you think – do you think h-he's in F-Forest?"

Gravely, Seer nodded.

"But what can we do?" cried Jean. "He might die in there! And so would Kira and Frolic and Matty if he didn't reach them in time!"

"I don't know, Jean. We can only hope that Leader knows what he's doing."


	2. Consequences

**[DISCLAIMER] ****Messen****g****er**** and all of its characters and ideas belong to Lois Lowry. I own nothing.**

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_**PART II - Consequences**_

"C'mon, you oafs!" Mentor yelled harshly. "Put your backs into it!"

It was now the last day, the day that Village would be closed. The wall was almost finished. Everybody that was not working on the barrier was watching with neutral faces, waiting with drawn breath.

"What do you see, Jean?" Seer asked his companion.

"They're putting the last beam in place – or trying to. Father's yelling at them," she added, blinking back tears of anger. Her father used to be a nice man, but then he changed because of Trading and Stocktender's widow.

_Why does Village use Trade Mart anyway? _she thought angrily. _I wish I had never heard of it._ Suddenly, she gasped.

Seer heard it and gripped Jean's hand. "What's happening?"

Jean didn't answer. She, and the other members of the crowd, were all watching as Leader, his clothes ripped and his hair muddy, dropped down over the unfinished part of the wall. Next came Matty, just as dirty, clutching a struggling Frolic in one hand. Finally, both the boy and Leader helped Kira, a dark-haired girl in a filthy blue dress with a twisted leg, over the wall and into the boundaries of Village.

"Seer," she whispered joyfully, "they're alive! Leader found them!"

The workmen and Mentor stopped their work. Mentor seemed furious. "Leader, what is the meaning of this? You know Village closes today!"

"The wall's not finished yet," the other man responded coolly. "You can't keep people from getting in." Some people in the crowd started to nod and talk among themselves, sneaking glances at the spectacle.

"But that doesn't mean you can bring new ones in all of a sudden!" Jean's father was livid now, his face turning bright red.

Suddenly, Jean saw Leader whisper something in Matty's ear. Matty nodded solemnly. Kneeling down, he placed his hands on the ground. It looked like he was concentrating hard, for he started to shake slightly – and so did the wall.

Mentor's eyes widened as he felt the birthmark reappear on his face. "What are you doing!" he shrieked. "Stop it, Matty!"

Matty looked up. He was sweating and pale, his muscles tight, but he never took his hands away from the ground. "No," he whispered hoarsely. "I won't."

The wall was shaking fiercely and then, suddenly, it fell: wood crashing against the earth, stirring up storms of dust.

"NO!" Mentor screamed – he now looked the same way, stooped over, balding – but was not the same in his mind. Furiously, he reached behind him and drew something from his back pocket – a gleaming knife, flashing in the sun.

Jean knew what he intended to do.

Breaking away from the crowd, she ran toward Matty, her skirts and long hair flying behind her. "Matty!" she screamed.

He looked up, looking weaker than before – then she threw herself in front of him just as her father's blade hit flesh – but not Matty, his intended target.

His own daughter.


	3. Endings

**[DISCLAIMER] ****Messen****g****er**** and all of its characters and ideas belong to Lois Lowry. I own nothing.**

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_**PART III - Endings**_

Forsaking her umbrella, Jean knelt by Matty's grave, not caring if her black mourning dress got muddy or wet. Her face was already wet, anyway – but not from the rain. Today had been Matty's funeral.

Squinting through her pearly tears, Jean could make out the simple, bold words on the headstone before her:

_**Here Lies Matty**_

_**Healer and the Savior of Village**_

She wiped the tears from her eyes, unwillingly recalling the day that he died.

"_Jean!" Matty's hoarse voice cut through her atmosphere of pain._

"_Matty," she croaked. "You're – you're here."_

_He placed one hand on the gushing wound in her stomach, the blood dying his hands a sickly red. "Don't… worry," he said faintly. "You'll be fine… I'll… heal you…"_

The memory of Matty, giving his life up so he could save Village, and herself, brought the tears back again.

Placing a bouquet of pastel-hued flowers on the grave, she stood and walked towards the cemetery gate. Kira, Mentor, Seer, and Leader – all clad in black as well – waited for her there. Frolic huddled beside them, whining heartbreakingly, a black ribbon tied around his neck. Reaching the group, she and the others walked away in silence.

The only sound was the pitter-patter of the rain, tears from heaven falling on the lonely headstones.

_**The End**_

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**[A/N] ... and that's all, folks! Ends on a real happy note, no? But honestly, I couldn't change that part much, because no matter how I thought about a way around Matty's death, I don't think the book would have been as powerful as it was (I remember crying after I finished it the first time!) So all I was really able to do - in the interests of keeping it like something Lois Lowry would write - was to change the circumstances around a bit.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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